Articles

Daniel Radcliffe has won unanimous praise for his performance in new London stage show The Cripple Of Inishmaan.

The Harry Potter actor plays the title role in a revival of writer Martin McDonagh's black comedy, and he earned rave reviews across the board from U.K. theatre critics when the show opened at the Noel Coward Theatre on Tuesday night (18Jun13).

Libby Purves of The Times newspaper gives the production four stars, branding it the "perfect ensemble piece" and calling Radcliffe the "heart" of the show who imbues his orphan character Billy, a disabled Irish teen desperate to leave home, with a "still, melancholy intensity and resolve".

The Independent's Paul Taylor calls Radcliffe the "genuine article" and hails his "honest, sensitive, unshowy performance", conceding that he "nails the acting - if not the Irish accent".

Michael Billington of The Guardian is also full of praise for the former boy wizard, writing, "Radcliffe... has the precious gift, vital in a play full of narrative surprises, of seeming artful and vulnerable at the same time."

The Daily Telegraph reviewer Charles Spencer gives the production three stars, but insists Radcliffe "lends this disconcertingly cruel play what little heart it has," and adds, "It has to be admitted that the piece is theatrically effective, outstandingly acted and often disgracefully funny."